Remembering Mother Teresa

The phone rang in Sean Callahan's new office in Calcutta,
India. The soft voice on the line told him to start loading trucks with
supplies and to be ready to leave in two hours.

Mother Teresa speaks during her 1996 visit to CRS headquarters with, from left to right, Sean Callahan, Bishop John Ricard, Ken Hackett and Father Brian McCullough looking on. Photo by CRS staff

People in neighboring Bangladesh, struggling with heavy
flooding, needed help quickly. Despite knowing that traffic wasn't being
allowed to cross the border into Bangladesh, Sean obliged and readied the
trucks.

As the aid trucks approached the border, to no surprise,
a line of trucks were being stopped and inspected by border patrols. When
patrolmen approached the truck, the driver pointed to his traveling companion,
the soft-spoken woman who organized the trip. When the patrolman saw Mother Teresa sitting
in the front seat of the lead truck and her sisters in the Missionaries of
Charity in each of the other trucks, they were promptly escorted to the front
of the line and allowed to cross the border and offer aid to suffering
Bangladeshis.

After taking over as CRS' country representative for eastern
India in 1994, Sean's first order of business was to meet with Mother
Teresa to discuss the relationship between CRS and her sisters of the Missionaries
of Charity.

A letter presented to CRS by Mother Teresa on her visit to CRS headquarters on May 30, 1996. Photo by CRS staff

"She was always very available to CRS," Sean says.
"She credited CRS with being the organization that provided, before they
really got going, a lot of their early assistance. Whenever they needed support
or help, they came to CRS."

Mother Teresa, often in partnership with CRS, worked every
day to fulfill her mission of helping the poorest of the poor.

The Missionaries of Charity and CRS continue to work closely
on a daily basis to provide an orphanage for children in Calcutta. CRS helps the
sisters running the orphanage near their Mother House by providing nutritional
food and education for the children.

Among Mother Teresa's many passions was operating a center for the dying
in Calcutta. To Mother Teresa, this was a place where anybody could come to
receive care, treatment and companionship in their final days. Sean was one
of many people to see the Missionaries of Charity in action by volunteering in
the center.

"No one should be forgotten," Sean says of
Mother Teresa's philosophy. "Even those who are suffering and that are
dying, and that may not recover and may not be productive citizens also should
have the opportunity for human dignity and respect and to finish their life
here in a manner that we'd all feel comfortable with. If you went to any of her
centers or places, the fact that people were doing this work joyfully, to me,
was the incredible part."

Beatified by Pope John Paul II in 2003, Blessed Mother Teresa was
revered for her tireless work in Calcutta by people of all faiths in the region. Her center for the dying was often staffed by Christian, Hindu and
Muslim volunteers who worked happily to help those in need regardless of religious
affiliation.

"Sometimes there would be traffic jams in Calcutta, as
you can imagine. Sometimes people would move out of the way and they'd say 'Mother's
coming' and people would let her go through," Sean says.

Mother Teresa visits CRS headquarters in 1996 accompanied by her friend Sean Callahan, left, and an unidentified man from her entourage. Photo by CRS staff

Mother Teresa also had a personal relationship with CRS and
our staff in Calcutta by making herself available to offer advice and counsel
to CRS staffers.

"It really was more like a familial relationship than a
partner relationship," Sean says of his time working with Mother
Teresa.

In the fall of 1995, Sean was stricken with multiple
illnesses that required his return to the United States to take a new job at
CRS headquarters in Baltimore.

On his last trip to Calcutta before starting his new post at
CRS, Sean stopped to see the sisters of the Missionaries of Charity one more
time. He was told that Mother Teresa was visiting the United States in May, and
she would love to visit with him in Baltimore.

Even though her itinerary had been finalized with the U.S. Secret
Service, which provided the security for her trip, Mother Teresa requested that
the plans be changed to accommodate a brief visit to CRS headquarters.

On May 30, 1996, CRS staffers and their families lined a
long hallway inside the former CRS headquarters building just to catch a brief
glimpse of Mother Teresa during her short visit. Instead, Mother Teresa, acknowledging
her longtime relationship with CRS, insisted on speaking to the audience and
personally greeted everyone who showed up to meet her.

Mother Teresa's work demonstrated her true passion for
helping the poorest of the poor live a life of dignity. Through her work with
the Missionaries of Charity and her relationship with CRS, she was able to
touch the lives of people across the world. Along with the Missionaries of
Charity, CRS continues Mother Teresa's work throughout the world to help those
most in need.

"It was just her whole presence and atmosphere,"
Sean says. "You'd have to admire and smile as you saw her."

Patrick Carney is the associate web producer, writer and
editor for Catholic Relief Services. He is based in CRS headquarters in
Baltimore, Maryland.